Chapter 59: Appearing Righteous Part One

When Yu Donglai left the Royal Study, his legs were still a little soft. When recalling what His Majesty said, he felt a coldness coming from the bottom of his heart.

“If I learn that some people dare to take a bit of these silver taels, I will kill their entire families including their relatives! If there aren’t many people in their families, I will rip open their ancestral graves”

This was Yu Donglai’s first time seeing the Emperor this angry after he became an official for so long. He wasn’t sure if the Emperor was angry that a group of officials worked together to fool him or was angry over the deaths of about 800 border soldiers and more than 2,000 civilians.

Yu Donglai felt even more scared after thinking about this. “The lie that Hou Wenji told already omitted a ton of key information, yet His Majesty got this mad. If he learns that those soldiers and residents were killed by Right Valiant Guard…. How angry will he become?”

Heaven-Bless Emperor Yang Yi of Great Sui had a mild temper, and he rarely reprimanded his officials. Because of this, some people already forgot that they shouldn’t mess around and try to fool the Emperor.

When the Emperor felt like his prestige was lowering, he would do things to make his subordinates pick up the respect and fear that they once had toward him.

At this moment, a few unlucky figures would always jump out. Even if they didn’t commit critical mistakes, at least in their own minds, they would be made into examples. When the Emperor needed to kill people, it was no longer important what mistakes they made.

When the Emperor felt like it was necessary to kill some people, he wouldn’t hesitate.

The lives of the officials in the central government had been too peaceful, so they selectively forgot about the Emperor issuing an edict several years ago and wiping out Yangtze-Metro Qiu Family for the crime of rebellion. That night, more than 2,000 people were killed in Yangtze-Metro City, and the three big families in the city were turned into nothing.

When the Emperor was only a prince, these three families supported the Third Prince wholeheartedly in the fight for the throne. Emperor Yang Yi was the most low-key among those seven princes, yet he obtained the throne.

When the Emperor wanted to kill people, sometimes it was urgent, and sometimes it wasn’t.

He waited years before taking out those three families in Yangtze-Metro, but the strike was as loud as thunder. Left Reverent Guard of Great Sui was ordered to deal with a rebellion in Yangtze-South Circuit, and they stopped at Yangtze-Metro to restock their supplies. At night, the big families in Yangtze-Metro gathered together and hosted a party for the Great General of Left Reverent Guard, and they all got drunk. These families thought that they took care of this general who was technically the Emperor’s cousin with a party and a stack of silver certificates.

However, in the second half of the night, 5,000 heavy infantrymen of Left Reverent Guard charged into Yangtze-Metro and surrounded the estates of those three big families. Without saying anything, the fully equipped soldiers killed everyone they saw. Howls and groans sounded until the sun came up, but they were all meaningless.

In one night, blood formed rivers in Yangtze-Metro.

On the second day morning, the Great General of Left Reverent Guard announced the crimes that these three big families committed. The most shocking charge was colluding with enemies and planning a rebellion. The most famous family among the three was the Qiu Family which had two dukes and three marquises and was a merited family that helped establish Great Sui. This incident was also called Qiu’s Rebellion.

After this incident, people suddenly realized that since Yang Yi was able to sit on the throne, how could he be gentle and weak as he appeared to be?

Betrayal and treason was always the line that people shouldn’t cross. Once it was crossed, the consequences would be set, regardless if it was real or made up.